The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error The Adventures of Robin Hood ( 1938 ) PG | From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC When Prince John and the Norman Lords begin oppressing the Saxon masses in King Richard's absence, a Saxon lord fights back as the outlaw leader of a rebel guerrilla army. Directors: Michael Curtiz , William Keighley Writers: Norman Reilly Raine (original screenplay: based upon ancient Robin Hood legends), Seton I.

Miller (original screenplay: based upon ancient Robin Hood legends) Stars: Olivia de Havilland Opens Up About Her Love for Married Errol Flynn - and Romance with Jimmy Stewart 7 July 2016 8:00 AM, -08:00 | PEOPLE.com a list of 41 titles created 14 Mar 2011 a list of 22 titles created 23 Mar 2011 a list of 25 titles created 23 Apr 2011 a list of 42 titles created 10 Sep 2012 a list of 44 titles created 30 Jan 2013 Title: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) 8/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Won 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations. See more awards » Videos After being wrongly convicted as a traitor, Peter Blood, an English physician, is sent to exile in the British colonies of the Caribbean, where he becomes a pirate.

Director: Michael Curtiz 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X Geoffrey Thorpe, a buccaneer, is hired by Queen Elizabeth I to nag the Spanish Armada. The Armada is waiting for the attack on England and Thorpe surprises them with attacks on their galleons where he shows his skills on the sword. Director: Michael Curtiz 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X A film crew goes to a tropical island for an exotic location shoot and discovers a colossal giant gorilla who takes a shine to their female blonde star. He is then captured and brought back to New York City for public exhibition. Directors: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack Stars: Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.

Director: John Ford When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself. Director: George Cukor In Africa during World War I, a gin-swilling riverboat captain is persuaded by a strait-laced missionary to use his boat to attack an enemy warship. Director: John Huston While traveling in continental Europe, a rich young playgirl realizes that an elderly lady seems to have disappeared from the train. Director: Alfred Hitchcock Mary Shelley reveals the main characters of her novel survived: Dr. Frankenstein, goaded by an even madder scientist, builds his monster a mate. Director: James Whale A Texas cattle agent witnesses first hand, the brutal lawlessness of Dodge City and takes the job of sheriff to clean the town up. Director: Michael Curtiz Rufus T. Firefly is named president/dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of wealthy Mrs. Teasdale. Director: Leo McCarey An obsessed scientist assembles a living being from parts of exhumed corpses. Director: James Whale A priest tries to stop a gangster from corrupting a group of street kids.

Director: Michael Curtiz Edit Storyline Sir Robin of Locksley, defender of downtrodden Saxons, runs afoul of Norman authority and is forced to turn outlaw. With his band of Merry Men, he robs from the rich, gives to the poor and still has time to woo the lovely Maid Marian, and foil the cruel Sir Guy of Gisbourne, and keep the nefarious Prince John off the throne. Written by Little Pine Weasel <kristinat@cerritos.edu> Excitement...Danger...Suspense...as this classic adventure story sweeps across the screen! See more » Genres: Rated PG for adventure violence | See all certifications » Parents Guide: 14 May 1938 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Did You Know? Trivia One of the areas of conflict or dislike between Errol Flynn and director Michael Curtiz during this movie may have been because Flynn was married to Curtiz's former wife, Lili Damita . See more » Goofs When fighting Robin, Little John, using his staff, supposedly hits Robin on the top of his foot, causing him to fall into the stream.

However, the end of the staff actually misses the foot by a very wide margin, hitting only the log. See more » Quotes [first lines] Town Crier announcing capture of Richard : News has come from Vienna: "Leopold of Austria has seized King Richard on his return from the Crusades. Our king is being held prisoner. Nothing further is known. His Highness Prince John will make further public pronouncement tomorrow." See more » Crazy Credits Opening card: "In the year of Our Lord 1191 when Richard, the Lion-Heart, set forth to drive the infidels from the Holy Land, he gave the Regency of his Kingdom to his trusted friend, Longchamps, instead of to his treacherous brother, Prince John. Bitterly resentful, John hoped for some disaster to befall Richard so that he, with the help of the Norman barons, might seize the throne for himself.

And then on a luckless day for the Saxons..." See more » Connections The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) Pages: ( 1 ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) Background The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) is one of the greatest, most colorful costume dramas, swashbucklers, and romantically-tinged adventure films in film history. After the icy restrictions placed on the film industry following the establishment of the Production Code Administration (Breen Office) in the mid 1930s, Warner Bros. Studios decided to find relief from censorship by bringing about a renaissance of the historical-costume adventure film, with swordplay, sweeping action, and romantic charm. Although its main star had portrayed a similar role in Captain Blood (1935) with the same dynamic director, Michael Curtiz, this film established 29 year-old actor Errol Flynn as a dashing, gallant, romantic, impudent but light-hearted, athletic legendary adventure hero - it is the Errol Flynn picture and the definitive film portraying the Robin Hood legend.

[This was another of the twelve films that Curtiz ultimately directed with Flynn as star.] Director Michael Curtiz was brought in by studio executives to quickly replace William Keighley when incapacitated by illness, according to Variety, while other sources claimed that Curtiz was chosen to create more engaging, impactful, fast-moving and action-oriented content when Keighley couldn't meet the tight production schedule. Both directors received screen credit for their work. [William Keighley had previously directed top-billed Flynn in the Warner Bros' costume drama The Prince and the Pauper (1937) a year earlier.] It expertly tells the story of the heroic Robin and his Sherwood Forest followers, who saved England from royal treachery by scheming nobles during the absence of the crusading and captured-ransomed King Richard the Lion-Hearted. And it tells the fairy-tale romance with nostalgic chivalry, colorful pageantry, simple righteousness triumphant over villainous and evil might, and spectacular action. There were at least six silent era attempts at the story. The Reginald de Koven-Harry B. Smith light opera version of Robin Hood was originally presented in 1890.

And Douglas Fairbanks starred as the infamous outlaw hero and Wallace Beery as Richard the Lion-Hearted in an early silent version of the film directed by Allan Dwan - Robin Hood (1922), reportedly the most expensive film made up to that time (at $1.6 - 2 million). In addition to his daring stunt work (sliding down a drapery, engaging in archery and swordsmanship, and other acrobatic feats), Fairbanks wrote the screenplay (with pseudonym Elton Thomas) for the fast moving, epic silent film filled with medieval pageantry. The 1938 Warner Bros. film is expensively mounted (at $2 million, it was the studio's largest budgeted film), and beautifully photographed in glorious and brilliant, three-strip Technicolor (Warners' first use of color) by cinematographers Sol Polito and Tony Gaudio, especially in the Sherwood Forest sequence [filmed in Bidwell Park in Chico, California] and other scenes of costumed pageantry.

[During preliminary plans for the film, it was originally expected that James Cagney would star as the legendary outlaw and contract player Guy Kibbee would play Friar Tuck.] The spectacle includes superb casting of memorable characters, a light-hearted, but spirited story, exciting dueling and action scenes requiring extensive stunt work, and the ideal love team of de Havilland and gallant Flynn with their witty and tender romantic scenes together. [It was their third of eight films together - the first two were Captain Blood (1935) and The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) - and this was the first of their pairings in color.] Flynn did most of his own dueling and other action stunts except for the expert archery shooting, and was coached by fencing master Fred Cavens. Oscar-winning Erich Wolfgang Korngold (who won his second award) created the richly orchestrated, lush score that effectively provided the musical backdrop for the action and the rich settings, and the literate screenplay was co-written by contract writer Norman Reilly Raine (who won the Academy Award in 1938 for the prestigious The Life of Emile Zola (1937)) and Seton I.

Miller (who was co-author of The Sea Hawk (1940), another Flynn swashbuckler). The film was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Interior Direction (Carl J. Weyl), Best Original Score (Erich Wolfgang Korngold), Best Film Editing (Ralph Dawson), and Best Picture, and lost only its Best Picture recognition to Frank Capra's You Can't Take It With You (1938). Disney produced two Robin Hood versions: The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952) (Disney's second made-in-Britain production) and the animated Robin Hood (1973). And Hammer Studios produced three Robin Hood movies in the 1950s and 1960s: Men of Sherwood Forest (1957), Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960), and A Challenge for Robin Hood (1968). The 1938 film had a sequel of sorts, Robin and Marian (1976), with Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn as middle-aged lovers. And Kevin Costner starred as the title character in Kevin Reynolds' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991).

The Story During the titles and credits, the viewer is informed that the quasi-historical story of the rogue outlaw is "Based Upon Ancient Robin Hood Legends," although the film also borrowed from old English ballads and Sir Walter Scott's 1819 novel Ivanhoe, with its emphasis on the oppressive treatment of the Saxons by the Norman knights. [Historically, Richard left England in late 1189, continued onto the Holy Land in mid 1190, was seized by Austria in late 1192, and returned to England (in a state processional acknowledged publicly) in March, 1194, when Prince John was in France (or Normandy). The Prince's Nottingham Castle was seized by King Richard himself while John was still absent.] The film opens with a lengthy historical prologue, setting the film's time period in late 12th century England: In the year of Our Lord 1191, when Richard, the Lion-Heart, set forth to drive the infidels from the Holy Land, he gave the Regency of his Kingdom to his trusted friend, Longchamp, instead of to his treacherous brother, Prince John.

Bitterly resentful, John hoped for some disaster to befall Richard so that he, with the help of the Norman barons, might seize the throne for himself. And then on a luckless day for the Saxons... A proclamation is read by a town crier to a crowd that news has arrived from Vienna that King Richard the Lion Hearted (Ian Hunter) has been captured in Austria by Emperor Leopold and held for ransom while returning from the Third Crusade in the Holy Land. The news at Nottingham Castle is welcomed by Richard's brother, the sly, scheming, evil and despotic Prince John (Claude Rains) - who has usurped power and declared himself Regent of England (heir-apparent to the British throne) by self-appointment during the King's absence and imprisonment.

[The motion picture, beyond its entertainment value, also served warnings against oppression toward the dictators of the late 1930s - counterparts of Prince John.] Ruthless Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Basil Rathbone) - the ruler of the city of Nottingham, the ineffectual High Sheriff of Nottingham (Melville Cooper), and other ruling Norman nobles and knights in the upper class (with Prince John) plot to brutally subjugate and overtax the Saxons (pretending that the money will pay the King's ransom) and take over power in the kingdom. In Sherwood Forest located near the city of Nottingham [filmed in Chico, California's Bidwell Park], Sir Guy and a group of knights discover Much the Miller's Son (Herbert Mundin) poaching a royal deer, an offense punishable by death.

When asked if he knows "it's death to kill the King's deer," Much replies indignantly, denouncing their tyranny: Yes, and death from hunger if I don't, thanks to you and the rest of you Norman cutthroats at Nottingham Castle...You can beat and starve our Saxons now, but when King Richard escapes, he'll take you by the scruff of the neck and fling you into the sea. Gisbourne moves to strike Much with his mace, but the weapon is shot out of his hand by an arrow out of the bow of the dashing, athletic, and heroic Sir Robin of Locksley (Errol Flynn). Robin, wearing a green outfit with brown woodman's cap and hunting boots had viewed the entire encounter with partner Will Scarlet (Patric Knowles). Gisbourne also threatens Robin with the death penalty for opposing him. Robin asks: "Are there no exceptions?" as he draws a second arrow and aims it at Gisbourne's heart, forcing him to back down and gallop off with his party of knights. Grateful for having his life saved, Much pledges himself to Robin's service: From this day on, I'll follow only you.

Why there isn't a poor Saxon in all of Nottinghamshire that doesn't know and bless Sir Robin of Locksley. Take me as your servant. Why in all the forest, there isn't a hunter as good as me. I ask no pay, just to follow you. To introduce the next memorable scene, another description: The great cold hall of Nottingham Castle, the stronghold of Sir Guy Gisbourne, knew an unaccustomed warmth this night, for Prince John and his friends were met to celebrate a promising future. Prince John holds an extravagant evening banquet at Nottingham Castle for the ruling Norman barons that are assisting him in his conspiracy. Prince John speaks to the gathered throng: Well, this is what we Normans like - good food, good company, and a beautiful woman to flatter me. At the head table with Prince John is the lovely Norman ward of King Richard (before he left on the Third Crusade), the seemingly demure and innocent, yet regal Lady Marian Fitzwalter (Olivia de Havilland). She is an unsuitable match for an arranged marriage with Gisbourne.

With tongue-in-cheek humor, the matchmaker Prince John suggests Gisbourne for her love interest, but she graciously defers: Prince John: Was it worthwhile, coming with me from London to see what stout fellows our Nottingham friends are? Take Sir Guy. He's from London, one of our most renowned defenders of the realm. Marian: Must I take him, your Highness? Prince: Why, you like him, don't you? Marian: Well, he's a Norman, of course. Prince: Is that the only reason for liking him? Marian: Isn't that reason enough for a royal ward...? Prince: Nay, I not force you, my lady. But he's our most powerful friend in these shires. And he's already in love with you. If I could promise him marriage to a royal ward, it might help my plans. Marian: Perhaps when I know him better. Prince: Of course. You're a very wise young woman. Without real concern or sincerity, the Prince asks everyone: "Any more objections to the new tax from our Saxon friends?" One of the nobles responds: Noble: Objections your Highness? With a Saxon dangling from every gallows tree...?

Prince John: Well said...but not too many mind, else we'll have nobody left to till our land or pay the tax. Sir Guy Gisbourne tells of his encounter with the notorious Sir Robin of Locksley - one Saxon noble he is unable to subdue. The Prince responds that he has heard "precious little else since I've been here." Then he asks: "What's his latest outrage?" Sir Guy admits it was something of a problem for him to take him prisoner. Lady Marian demurs and mocks him: "A Saxon a problem?" Robin is considered: ...a reckless rogue who goes around the shires stirring up the Saxons against authority, and he has the insolence to set himself up as the protector of the people. The Prince orders his Sheriff of Nottingham to immediately capture Robin and hang him. At this point, introducing himself with a dramatic entrance, the handsome, but uninvited, devil-may-care Robin unexpectedly bursts through the gate to the great banquet hall with the body of a slain deer draped across his shoulders. Robin throws the deer on the table before host Prince John, who reacts in an amused, gracious fashion: Let him approach...By my faith, but you're a bold rascal. Robin.

I like you. Robin is introduced to the beautiful Lady Marian - she immediately detests his company: "What you hope can hardly be important!" Typical of the entire film's jocular tone, Robin replies wittily: What a pity your manners don't match your looks, Your Highness. The Prince invites Robin to sit in a chair at the table in front of him, and orders: Prince John: Bring Sir Robin food! At once do you hear. Such impudence must support a mighty appetite. Robin: True enough, your Highness. We Saxons have little to fatten on by the time your tax gatherers are through. The Sheriff asks Robin if he feels the Saxons are overtaxed, to which he honestly replies: Robin: Overtaxed, overworked and paid off with a knife, a club or a rope. Marian: Why, you speak treason. Robin: Fluently.

Involved in the evil machinations of the Prince, the Bishop of the Black Canons (Montagu Love) retorts: "I'd advise you to curb that wagging tongue of yours!" Lady Marian is unimpressed by Robin's treasonous activities, even when Robin boldly announces resistance: "We Saxons aren't going to put up with these oppressions much longer." Prince John explains the reasons for the taxes - to collect the ransom to release the King from imprisonment by Emperor Leopold. He also announces he has deposed Longchamps as Regent and appointed himself to take charge. The Adventures of Robin Hood at EYE Film in Amsterdam | EYE Part of Café Society programme The Adventures of Robin Hood Michael Curtiz’ Oscar-awarded swashbuckler film stars an intrepid Errol Flynn in the title role. Olivia De Havilland played opposite the high-born and mischievous benefactor. Screened to mark the premiere of Café Society, Woody Allen’s tribute to early Hollywood. general information Adventures of Robin Hood The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) Directed by Michael Curtiz. Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone (102 min).

Swashbuckling thrills abound as insouciant outlaw Robin Hood challenges Nottingham authority, robbing the rich to give to the poor, an intoxicating Depression era concept. Nobody has ever beat Flynn’s dash and daring in this timeless Technicolor adventure. “Made with sublime innocence and breathtaking artistry…this great 1938 film exists in an eternal summer of bravery and romance” (Roger Ebert). “Ravishes the senses, tantalizes the tastebuds and stirs up the blood” (Swordsmen of the Screen). The historical sources for the daring exploits of Robin Hood are murky, although historical characters, like Richard the Lion Hearted and his brother, John were real people. Minstrels spread tales of an outlaw who robbed the rich to give to the poor starting in the early 1300s.

There were stories, ballads, plays and novels over the centuries, but the real origin of modern Robin Hood lore dates to his inclusion in Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe (1819) and the book, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood of Great Renown in Nottinghamshire, written and illustrated by Howard Pyle, first published in 1883, which included most of the now familiar characters and incidents. The most direct cinematic antecedent was Douglas Fairbanks’ epic Robin Hood in 1922. But he shunned most of the traditional episodes of the outlaw, choosing to do an original story, which he then copyrighted to avoid imitators. This allowed Warner Brothers to use these more familiar tales. Hilariously, Warner Brothers first became interested in Robin Hood as a follow up for James Cagney to showcase his versatility, after his turn as Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. When Cagney walked out of the studio on one of his periodic contractual disputes, the role was given to 27 year old Errol Flynn, who had recently impressed in the title role of Captain Blood.

The script went through numerous revisions under many scriptwriters, as the stories, ballads, novels and film versions were distilled down to their essence. One primary source was an 1890s operetta, and dialogue was jiggered to make sure that it had an old fashioned courtly air without being too fussy for modern audiences. One studio memo highlighted passages such as “Oh, M’lord, tarry not too long for, I fear, in her remorse, she may fling herself from the widow, some harm will befall her, I know!” (Behlmer 18). There was also concern that the film did not drown in pageantry, the way Fairbanks version had. More dash, less jousting. Meanwhile, stunt extras were hired and trained to use broadsword and quarterstaff by Fred Cavens (and his son, Albert) the masters of onscreen swordplay. Howard Hill, a skilled archer, arrived to train Flynn and double some archery shots. Hill also played the Captain of the Archers on screen. He had won 196 consecutive field archery tournaments and retired when nobody would compete with him.

Extras who agreed to be padded and shot in the chest by one of Hill’s arrows received a fee of $150.00 per hit, as it was quite dangerous. Historical advisors cautioned that the word “ouch” as an expression of pain dated from the 19th century, so wounded combatants were to say “Ai-eee” instead (Meyers 145). This scrapbook image can easily be dated to 1938. And, the consultants worked a veritable miracle with their advice. Even the persnickety author of The Hollywood History of the World sighs, that it is “a near-perfect motion picture, quite the best evocation of a folk legend every put on the screen…I call it near perfect because I cannot think of any film which realized so well what its makers were trying to do or so satisfied the audience’s expectation. For this simply IS Robin Hood of the ballads and childhood lore and the world’s imagination. For once history does not matter” (Fraser 65). Although Warners first cast starlet Anita Louise as Maid Marian, Olivia de Havilland, who had partnered Flynn so memorably in Captain Blood was eventually assigned the part.

Basil Rathbone, probably the best fencer ever to appear on screen (and the highest paid free-lance actor in Hollywood) was cast as Sir Guy, and distinctive WB contract players filled out the cast. Birdwell Park, a 2,400 acre forest preserve in Chico, California would play Sherwood Forest. Art director Jules Weyl had crew amend the forest with additional plaster of Paris trees and rocks, and wound vines around intrusive telephone poles. Real grass was removed as a fire hazard, and artificial grass was added with plantings of bushes, ferns and flowers. The Merry Men camped near the largest living oak tree in the world, 92 feet high, with branches reaching 149 feet and a trunk almost 29 feet around. Location costs were expensive. Supposedly the production spent $25,000/day in Chico, and according to publicity, 10 carloads of props and costumes, as well as 50 horses, were shipped by special train.

This included 10,000 arrows, long bows and cross bows, battle axes, lances, daggers, maces, lutes, armor, imitation ducks, 12th century furniture, plates, knives and forks (Higham 67). On location in Chico, CA. Director Keighley has his hand on the shoulder of cameraman Tony Gaudio. William Keighley was the director, but as he lagged behind schedule, Warners replaced him with Michael Curtiz, who better knew his way around a swashbuckling adventure, as well as how to stage a dramatic scene without dramatically increasing the budget. Apparently Keighley directed most of the exterior scenes, and Curtiz the interiors, with some of the action sequences done by veteran 2nd unit director B. Reeves Eason. Flynn did some of his own stunts, but the difficult ones (like jumping onto the back of a horse with his hands bound behind him) were doubled by Buster Wiles. The only on set mishap was when the stuntman doubling Basil Rathbone’s fall in the climatic duel broke his ankle, adding an extra degree of realism.

The film took about four months and over $2 million to complete, it was the most expensive Warner Brothers production to date. Director Michael Curtiz at left, cinematographer Sol Polito on the right. The score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold is one of the most memorable in cinema history, even though, as a serious musician, he balked at scoring an action film. He was a child prodigy, and a celebrated classical composer in his native Austria. Given the rare privilege of working on a week to week basis, and able to quit at any time to have his score finished by another composer, should he choose to do so, he contributed a magnificent, rousing score. And, he was grateful to be in California when the Nazis marched into Austria and confiscated his home. This begins my series on fabulous costume in film, so I’m going to give you a bit of an introduction. You probably know the name of Edith Head of Paramount and Gilbert Adrian at MGM. But, there were many madly talented designers working in classic Hollywood. The costumes in tonight’s film are by Milo Anderson, who seems to have taken a lot of the historical films that the leading WB designer, Orry Kelly, who preferred modern dress, passed on.

Anderson worked at Warner Brothers from 1932-1953. The costumes here, bathed in the brilliant hues of 3 strip Technicolor, take a lot of leeway with historical design. Robin and the Merry Men look resplendent in their forest greens, contrasted with Sir Guy’s peacock blue. There were no stretch fabrics in medieval times, however, and the hose on Flynn’s shapely limbs would have been much thicker and baggier. Maid Marian’s clothes, as fetching as they are, owe little to 12th century fashion. Hammered crepe, metallic lame and bias draping make these gowns perfect for 1938, but less so for the historical era in which the film is placed. Her delightfully tip tilted headwear is also pure 1930s. Actresses often lobbied for more contemporary hair and make-up so they wouldn’t look unfashionable, as is the case, here. Continuity costume still for Main Marian. And here is my version, for moviediva, jr.'s 2005 Halloween.

Anderson looked on Maid Marian’s clothes as he would contemporary fashion, “It’s a bold designer who forecasts future fashion facts. No man can say what feminine whimsy will reject or welcome. Every time a dress appears in public it will have a new disguise, It will wear a dashing bolero, a winding sash, a Robin Hood tabard or cavalier gloves. With the high low waistline gaining in importance the cummerbund should continue to encircle it. The double girdle such as Olivia de Havilland wears in The Adventures of Robin Hood gives the impression of a high low waistline. When wrought in metal and set with gems, it should have an evening vogue" (Landis 114). Other films he designed include Captain Blood, Yankee Doodle Dandy, To Have and Have Not and Mildred Pierce. Obviously, it was a bit of an issue that de Havilland spent so much screen time in corsets and petticoats. Anderson had to devise chain mail that would not create a racket; he settled for woven string sprayed with metallic paint, an old theatrical trick.

Flynn complained about his wig, hating the center part and bangs, and insisted he get a better one, with a side part (even though he rarely cared about such matters). And, over studio protests, he grew his own beard, asserting that Robin Hood never would have been clean shaven in the forest. Director William Keighley, and Errol Flynn in the first wig he hated. Cut from 193 minutes to a lean 105, the film, greeted by rave reviews and audience rapture, never stops moving. Part of the film’s success is owed to the Warner Brothers studio philosophy, which seamlessly incorporates the spirit of their 1930s social problem films about the downtrodden masses during the Depression into the cowed backs of the peasantry in medieval England. The Technicolor photography (still rare, an often reserved for musicals) is exquisite, and the sets and costumes superlative. But, the film would be nothing without the mythic dash of Flynn, and the tender affection between him and de Havilland.

A.O.Scott in the New York Times recently posed a question, asking “which screen kiss do you first remember with affection?” The embrace between Maid Marian and Robin Hood film might very well be mine, which is why, even though Flynn was a naughty boy, I won’t be telling any shocking tales about him. The 13 year old me likes to think he is the romantic outlaw of tonight’s film. There are lots of lovely fan magazine photos from the 1930s and 40s of Flynn. Here's another photo from the same scrapbook, in costume for The Prince and the Pauper, and reading the book he authored about his sailing exploits (expurgated, no doubt). “Not only is The Adventures of Robin Hood a great film in its own right, but it is also the best cinematic adaptation of material from the ballads, an unsurpassed, timeless evocation of the storybook Saxon versus Norman version of the legend. Although the film is outstanding in every department, its reputation among the masses rest primarily on the Lincoln green clad shoulders of Errol Leslie Flynn, who is at the height of his powers” (Nollen 118).

Director Keighley, cameraman Gaudio (in cap) with the stars. “Relatively little about the picture dates, except in a charming way. The character, costumes, castle and forest are idealized, but then the film is not a document of medieval life, rather it is a fairy tale illustrated by Technicolor. The “love interest” usually clumsy and arbitrary in costume adventure film is here properly motivated and nicely woven into the plot fabric. And, the rich score serves as a marvelous connective tissue, literally sweeping the film along” (Behlmer 39). The Adventures of Robin Hood won three Oscars, for the score, the swift and muscular editing and the superb Technicolor art direction. But as Jeffrey Richards says in his superb Swordsmen of the Screen, no version of the folk talks will ever measure up to it, since there will never be another Errol Flynn or Basil Rathbone.

Robin Hood: A Cinematic History of the English Outlaw and his Scottish Counterparts by Scott Allen Nollen, The Adventures of Robin Hood, edited and with an introduction by Rudy Behlmer, Errol Flynn: Satan’s Angel by David Bret, Inherited Risk: Errol and Sean Flynn in Hollywood and Viet Nam by Jeffrey Meyers, The Casablanca Man: The films of Michael Curtiz by James C. Robertson, The Hollywood History of the World by George MacDonald Fraser, Swordsmen of the Screen by Jeffrey Meyers, Those Glorious Glamour Years: The Great Hollywood Costume Designs of the 1930s by Margaret J. Bailey, Hollywood and History: Costume Design in Film edited by Edward Maeder, Dressed: A Century of Hollywood Costume Design by Deborah Nadoolman Landis, on set photos from America’s Favorite Movies by Rudy Behlmer. c.moviedivaJanuary2015 AMC Total Ratings: 30 (avg 4.5) Excellent Review The Adventures of Robin Hood is one of those rare studio system movies that started out as a regular genre film and somehow surpassed itself, feeding off a creative energy that generated its own sweeping artistry.

It blurs the line of categories to include all types and styles: a swashbuckling action-adventure; a romantic fairy tale full of yearning looks and limpid eyes; a sight-gag comedy with dashing derring-do and hilarious costumes. Coming right down to it though, it’s a 65-year-old classic that still holds its rank as a movie among movies. In 1938 Robin Hood was a huge success. It added to the Errol Flynn-Olivia de Havilland aura as a leading romantic team (they made six more films together). It also received special attention by using the new and expensive three-strip Technicolor in its cinematography. If you had a chance to see the restored 35mm print that made the rounds at various big-city theaters last August, good for you – you’ve experienced what ‘glorious Technicolor’ really is and you’re one up on the rest of us. But the new release of The Adventures of Robin Hood on a two-disc DVD special edition might just even the score.

It’s hard to beat seeing any classic on the big screen, but the sparkling sharpness of this DVD image and the high quality and quantity of the extras almost make up for the lack of big-screen opportunities. You know the story. In 12th century Britain, Robin of Locksley (Errol Flynn) gives up his Saxon life of ease and privilege to wage a small-scale war on those evil Normans, lead by the fatuous Prince John (Claude Rains) and the shrewdly unctuous Guy of Gisbourne (Basil Rathbone). Robin’s Merry Men of Sherwood Forest are a combination of Keystone Cops and disciplined army who and win and win but sure go through some clumsy shenanigans to do it. Played by a gang of high-end character actors who seem to be having the time of their lives running around in tights while looting the rich and fighting the Normans, they really pump up the movie’s energy level. The movie also gets a boost from Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Academy Award winning score, the Robin Hood March, used as a leitmotif of grandeur and adventure in stirring the Merry Men into action.

As in any fairy tale, Robin is fated to love just one and his destiny is Maid Marian. Olivia de Havilland glows in this role as a paragon of virginal beauty and loveliness. She has such natural, inviting intensity, and is so remarkable in close-ups, using that lost-in-love look that smiles with her eyes, you can’t help thinking how today’s buffed and surgically enhanced leading actresses come off like lap dancers in comparison. And there’s Errol Flynn, the young and intoxicating Errol Flynn, as big as movies themselves, and more fun and likeable here than he is in any other picture. From one of his three grand entrances, where he crashes Prince John’s dinner party carrying a deer carcass over his shoulders and dumps it on the dining table, to the last, thrilling sword fight, he confidently struts and preens in those infamous green tights, waving his sword in all directions as he ricochets from end of the screen to the other. Watching, you never quite believe he can keep carrying off so many jaunty stunts in that outfit and ‘bonnet,’ but he keeps doing it, and you keep going along, wishing you could be just like him.

He’s having so much fun in the role you never stop smiling. There are many terrific things about this DVD, but tops on my list are the nifty Technicolor asides you can pause and go back to, taking full advantage of the beautiful and funny ways the filmmakers structured the sets and costumes: Maid Marian’s powder blue veil swaying in the breeze while her brown eyes are tinting green in the sunlight; the decadent red velvet curtains and opulent castle-crest rugs hanging on the walls; the gleaming, painted green leaves of Sherwood Forest. There’s a riot of color in Milo Anderson’s costumes; bulging legs and rear-ends in pink and red tights running about in the woods and castles. The alarm-red tights and feathered bonnet of Will Scarlet (Patric Knowles) who stares, smiles, and makes faces like one of Santa’s elves dressed for Valentine’s Day. My personal favorite is the Bishop’s purple shoes, perfectly dyed to match the inner lining of his black cape and shining like the Queen’s silver. He would never let them get dirty.

There’s a page long list of extras on this two-disc DVD: blooper reels, outtakes, home movies, cartoons, and a documentary on the Technicolor process, to mention just a few. Film historian Rudy Behlmer does the informative audio commentary, pointing out things like which director shot which scenes (Robin Hood had two directors: Michael Curtiz and William Keighley), where stunt doubles came in and where they didn’t, and how Maid Marian’s horse, taking a bit part in this movie, moved on to stardom as Trigger. What’s great about these bonus materials is that going over them again and again won’t get boring as you’re learning something new each time. This special edition of The Adventures of Robin Hood offers more than a chance to watch a masterfully restored great old movie; it’s a loving tribute to all movies and the creative effort in making them. If you’re reading this review you’ll want to have it. To the pain.

Question: Who played the title role in the 1938 film 'The Adventures Of Robin Hood'?
Answer: ERROL FLYNN